Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Philosophical Essay on Probability', 'Philosophy of Natural Science' and 'On the Elements of Being: I'

expand these ideas     |    start again     |     specify just one area for these texts


6 ideas

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / a. Nature of tropes
'Socrates is wise' means a concurrence sum contains a member of a similarity set [Williams,DC]
A 'trope' is an abstract particular, the occurrence of an essence [Williams,DC]
A world is completely constituted by its tropes and their connections [Williams,DC]
13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 7. Testimony
The reliability of witnesses depends on whether they benefit from their observations [Laplace, by Hacking]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 1. Explanation / b. Aims of explanation
Scientific explanation aims at a unifying account of underlying structures and processes [Hempel]
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 6. Determinism / a. Determinism
If a supreme intellect knew all atoms and movements, it could know all of the past and the future [Laplace]